Deconstruction

2012 Year in Review: Deconstruction

One of columns I look forward to every month is Deconstruction, where we walk through the process of how a specific product is designed and made. We had some really big names share their products this year – let’s take a look back:

Nama Rococo Wallpaper
Design Milk gets a glimpse of the printing process for Nama Rococo’s new Amsterdam pattern, from testing to the final product, complete with styled photo shoot.

Flavor Paper Wallpaper
Flavor Paper makes hand-screened and digital wall coverings that can best be described as, well, flavorful. The team let us grab a glimpse of their creative process inside their Brooklyn studio.

Anthony Hartley’s Cable Collection
Yorkshire-based furniture designer and maker Anthony Hartley describes himself as a “jumped up joiner” who started drawing and designing furniture while he was supposed to be doing other things at school and then never really stopped. Hartley walks us through the design and production process of his range of dining and occasional furniture, called Cable.

Bjørn Jørund Blikstad ImeübleIn January 2010 Bjørn Jørund Blikstad’s prototype for a modular storage system graced the cover of Wallpaper* magazine and then the pages of Design Milk. Two agonizing years later at February 2012′s Stockholm Furniture Fair, he finally launched Imeüble. We spoke to him about the long road from the inspiration to production.

Black + Blum’s Eau Good Water Bottle
From their studio in the heart of London, Black + Blum designers Dan Black and Martin Blum create products for the home and office, combining ruthless practicality with an intellectually-satisfying design aesthetic meant to charm and entertain. The duo provides us with a detailed look into the development of the Eau Good water bottle, which incorporates active charcoal to purify the water.

Megan Geckler for Bobble
Created by artist Megan Geckler, this unique art installation was created and featured at the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago this past March. The piece was commissioned by water bottle company Bobble to commemorate its second year.

Minuscule Chair by Cecilie Manz
Danish designer Cecilie Manz shares numerous sketches of her new chair for Fritz Hansen, the Minuscule, which won the 2012 ICFF Editor Award in New York City this week.

DALA by Stephen Burks
New York designer Stephen Burks takes us behind the scenes at the factory responsible for producing his first ever collection of outdoor furniture, DALA by Stephen Burks with DEDON.

Foscarini’s Maki lamp by Nendo
Italian lighting company Foscarini recently introduced the Maki suspension lamp by Nendo, designed by Canadian-born, Tokyo-based designer Oki Sato. See how it came about.

Table by Werken Design
Ian Riedel of Sonoma-based metal fabrication studio, Werken Design, leads us through the process of creating a rusted steel and reclaimed wood table. We get to see how the design evolves, through whim and necessity, hearing his musings along the way.

Sonya Winner’s Bubble Rug
Rug designer Sonya Winner, who works out of her Hampstead studio in the UK, shows us the process from design to completion of her new Bubbles Outline rug.

Topissimo Collection by Nanimarquina
Barcelona-based rug studio nanimarquina, founded in 1987 by Nani Marquina, has been creating contemporary textiles for the floor crafted in India, Morocco, Pakistan, and Spain. We go to India for the manufacture of one of the company’s most popular, and surely the most fun (polka dots in relief!): a fuchsia and purple concoction from the Topissimo collection, which won a Red Dot Design Award in 2003.

Marimekko’s Printed Textiles
A behind-the-scenes look at how Finnish company Marimekko creates their vibrant fabrics. Since 1951, they’ve been making highly-recognizable and nostalgia-inducing patterns, which are printed at the Marimekko-house in Helsinki, Finland, the heart and soul of the company.

Lindsey Adelman’s Signature Lighting
Lindsey Adelman’s innovative chandeliers, which are a unique cross between industry and nature, are all made by a team of 15 and a network of local artisans that manufacture each piece to order.

Jaime Derringer, Founder + Executive Editor of Design Milk is a Jersey girl living the laid back life in SoCal. She dreams of designing textiles, running more than 8 miles + having enough free time to enjoy some of her favorite things—running, reading, and drawing.